Thursday, August 30, 2012

Article 5 Book Review

Annotation:
In
the not-too-distant future, the United States is governed by the Moral
Statutes: laws created following a catastrophic world war. One of the newest laws
is Article 5 which states that only children conceived by a married man and
woman are valid citizens. Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller has always tried to
abide by the Moral Statutes, but after Article 5 is enacted, she and her single
mother can no longer hide.

Personal
thoughts: I am really a big fan of dystopian novels, but it seems like
after you’ve read 20+ titles in the genre, the ones that don’t do something
completely different kind of blend together. I enjoyed reading Article 5, but I’m worried that it might
not be unusual enough to really stick out in the crowd. I kind of already knew
what was going to happen when the story began, just because it is what usually
happens in dystopian novels. I do think it is a good book, however, and would
easily recommend it to someone who wanted a Hunger
Games read-alike. I will also definitely be picking up the sequel when it’s
released, and I hope that the author can take the story in a unique direction
that will really make the series a standout.

Plot
summary: After a brutal war destroyed most of the United States’ major
cities, the country is now under control by the Federal Bureau of Reformation
(FBR). The Moral Statutes govern what citizens can and cannot do, and
compliance is mandatory. The newest of the Moral Statutes is Article 5, which
states that only children conceived by a married man and woman are valid
citizens. Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller has tried to live her life in
compliance with the Statutes. She attends high school, behaves appropriately,
and tries to discourage her free-spirit mother from acting immorally. After the
FBR initiates a crackdown on Article 5 violators, however, Ember and her
mother, who has never been married, find themselves under arrest. Ember is sent
to a reform school for girls, and her mother is sent to prison to await trial.
The reform school is operated by a cruel woman named Ms. Brock and guarded by dozens
of FBR soldiers. Ember wants nothing more than to escape the school and rescue
her mother, but she cannot forget the face of one of the men who arrested her:
Chase Jennings, the only boy she has ever loved.

Review: From debut
author Kristen Simmons comes Article 5,
the first novel in a new dystopian series for teens. Dystopian novels seem to
be the bread and butter of the young adult genre in recent years, and, although
it is well-written and has originality, Article
5 does have a lot in common with other recently published dystopian novels.
The government rules with an absolute iron fist, people who disobey aren’t
heard from again, the main character finds herself thrust into a situation that
causes her to be at odds with the government, there is a romance that is
threatened by the aforementioned situation. These are all plot points that Article 5 shares with other novels in
the genre (in fact, Katniss Everdeen, the Godmother of dystopia herself, has
these in common with Kristen Simmons’ Ember Miller.) The fact that Article 5 is a lot like other recently
published dystopian novels, however, doesn’t make it any less entertaining. The
author does a great job of creating tension in the story: the reader is never
sure who to trust, what the truth about various situations is, and what will
happen next for Ember Miller and Chase Jennings. There are also several plot
twists that keep the book flowing very smoothly from start to finish, leaving
the reader at a satisfying point to anticipate the sequel. Ember is a very
likable if slightly underdeveloped character (the reader doesn’t really get a
sense for who she is prior to the events of the story because the action starts
within the first pages of the novel.) Hopefully, the author will be able to
expand on Ember, Chase and their relationship in the sequel, Breaking Point, which is set to be
released on February 5, 2013.

Genre: Science-Fiction

Reading
level: Grade 8+

Similar
titles: Hunger
Games series by Suzanne Collins, Awaken
by Katie Kacvinsky, Cinder by
Marissa Meyer, Divergent series by
Veronica Roth, Eve by Anna Carey, The Pledge by Kimberly Derting, The Selection by Kiera Cass, Starters by Lissa Price, Partials by Dan Wells, Legend by Marie Lu, Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, What Happened to Serenity? by PJ Sarah Collins.

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Welcome to my blog! I'm a librarian who loves to read...unusual, right? This blog contains my reviews and thoughts about the books I read, and other information for tweens, teens, parents, teachers, librarians and anyone else who loves books. Enjoy!